Investigating the Impact of Winter Exposure to Natural Environments on Perceived Health and Well-being using Geographic Ecological Momentary Assessment: A Case Study at Arrowhead Provincial Park

This study examined how winter exposure to specific natural environments influenced perceived health and well-being outcomes using Geographic Ecological Momentary Assessment (GEMA) in Arrowhead Provincial Park. Studies performed in the wintertime are limited, as is our understanding of how specific park features and/or activities impact health and well-being. To address this, GEMA was used with a video component to capture participants’ real-time experience and emotional responses in specific park locations defined by polygon boundaries. Two surveys were administered through participants mobile devices, one being an in-situ engagement survey triggered by entering a bounded location, which included a video and Brief Emotional Experience Scale (BEES), followed by a post-engagement survey. The video captured open-ended audio-visual representations of the participants' experiences/emotions and the features impacting them, while the BEES captured closed ended emotional responses. The post-engagement survey collected information about the participants experience once they left an active boundary within the park. Analysis of the findings suggest that overall, subjective health and well-being outcomes in nature continue to be positively influenced during wintertime within a park setting. The results also indicate that diverse environments, natural features and recreational activities contribute to enhanced positive emotional states. A greater diversity of emotional responses were captured using the GEMA video method, which also uniquely enabled casual analysis with features, feelings and experiences of participants. For instance, positive emotions (i.e., refreshed, content, etc.) were linked with specific features (i.e., sky, sun, snow, etc.) while negative emotions (i.e., sad, worry, etc.) were rarely expressed. Although this study was limited in scale as a pilot, its findings provide valuable insight into the effects of wintertime nature exposure on human health and well-being in a park setting and offer a framework for future research employing GEMA in similar park-based health studies.